I want to hear you say it
by Maydrei
Summary: Sakura goes above and beyond to make the perfect Valentines date for her and Gaara. She got the works: candles, music, chocolates, a massage, but only one thing is wrong. Gaara refuses to give her the one thing she wants most: for him to say he loves her.


**Wow, it's been a while. This is a small attached oneshot to the Making it Work story, though you don't necessarily have to of read it to understand this.**

**Enjoy the fluff, as you call it.**

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Sakura nervously looked over everything, worried she had overdone it. She wrung her hands and fixed her hair in the mirror, even though she had made sure it was perfect an hour ago when she got dressed.

It was going to be her first Valentines with Gaara, and she wanted everything to be perfect.

She felt ridiculous getting so worried and meticulous about this. Gaara probably hadn't even remembered what day it was. He wouldn't care that she had light all these candles for a nice mood setting, or she had handmade chocolates to give to him, making sure they were perfect (and having a good time eating all the ones that didn't come out looking so nice). Gaara had told her he would be busy for most of the day, so she didn't try to make a meal, he would have already eaten.

The clock told her that Gaara should be making his way home and her eyes roamed over everything again, daring something to fall out of place.

"Calm down," she muttered to herself, afraid that she would start freaking herself out if she thought too much. This was going to be fine. She had realized Gaara wouldn't notice most of what she did, but she had to do it. This night was supposed to be special.

The click of the doorknob sounded and Sakura whirled around, nearly tripping over herself. Darkly, she thought it would just be perfect if she smacked her head on the counter and ruined the whole night with having to spend it in the hospital. Quickly smoothing her clothes, Sakura took a deep breath and checked herself in the mirror one more time.

Gaara entered, immediately scanning the room for her. She smiled at him but before she could say anything, he walked over and gave her a brisk hug. Sakura pulled away in surprise, and Gaara said, if a little awkwardly, "Happy Valentines Day." In his hand was a rose, wrapped with a ribbon.

Sakura stared at him. "You remembered?" she asked.

"You thought I forgot?" he said back. "Sakura, wouldn't I wonder why you asked me over? I know I don't really know about a lot of this stuff, but I'm not so thick that I would forget Valentines Day."

Sakura smiled and hugged him tight, laughing. "You just made my whole night."

"You're welcome," Gaara said simply, making her smile wider. She pulled away and took the rose, quickly kissing Gaara on the cheek.

"I'll put this in some water." She turned away and moved to the cabinet, searching for a vase. Gaara watched her admiringly as she walked away, noting she was wearing high heels, a rarity, for her. He remembered when he brought it up one time, asking her why she didn't wear any, while plenty other women he knew did, like Temari, Shizune, and Tsunade. Sakura had just shrugged and told him that if she didn't want to break an ankle while walking through the sand and gravel in Suna, she'd stick to the regular footwear, thank you very much.

A nice skirt went with it, he guessed other people more fashion savvy would call it stylish—he just called it nice to look at. She was also wearing a button-up blouse in a nice shade of reddish-pink. He had never seen any of it on her before, and he liked the change from her everyday outfit.

Figuring a compliment was deserved, he said casually, "You look nice." When Sakura looked over her shoulder to give him a glowing smile of thanks, he added, "Really, really nice."

She giggled and grabbed a glass vase, filling it with water and setting it on the table, rose inside. "Thanks."

Seeing how happy those comments made her, Gaara put it away in his mind to sprinkle some more throughout the night. "So…what did you plan for tonight?" he asked, grateful to know she would have made a plan and not left it up to him.

"I was hoping to surprise you," Sakura admitted.

"With what?"

"Before I tell you, I want to give you your gift first." She picked up a small wrapped box from the counter and gave it to him. Gaara threw a curious look at her and sat down at the table. He pulled off the wrapping and opened the box.

Small, chocolate candies were inside, each a little different from the other. Before Gaara could say anything, Sakura quickly cut in, "I know this isn't really your style, but I thought you might like it." When Gaara didn't say anything, she added weakly, "I worked hard on them."

"Thank you, Sakura," Gaara said, picking one up. In all honesty, he wasn't crazy about chocolate, but he was hardly going to reject a box of them and ruin the entire night. He popped it in his mouth and saw Sakura watching anxiously. "What?" he asked, trying to talk around the chocolate.

She smiled sheepishly. "How does it taste?"

Gaara rolled his eyes. "Good."

"Really?"

Feeling playful, Gaara quickly pulled her to him, saying, "See for yourself," as he kissed her.

She squirmed for a moment, resisting. "Gaara, I haven't given your other present yet. Don't distract me."

Gaara ignored her and held her still, smirking as he continued kissing her. Sakura whined and pushed him away, scowling. Holding his wrists so he couldn't try that again, she said sternly, "I mean it. I put a lot of effort into this. I want to see how you like it."

Rolling his eyes and holding back a groan, Gaara figured he better do what she asked if he wanted this night to run smoothly. "Alright," he submitted. What's this big other present?"

Sakura drew herself up, a little embarrassed now. "A massage," she said.

Gaara rose an eyebrow. "What?"

"I thought you would like a massage," she said, afraid she had made a mistake with planning this.

"A…massage…?" Gaara questioned.

Sakura crossed her arms. It would be stupid to change her mind now. She had put effort into this, this was what she was going to do. "Yes. You'll like it."

Gaara hesitated. He had absolutely nothing against having Sakura touching him, he was positive he would love it—but just the idea of a massage was a little…unmanly. Didn't only 'foo foo' people get those?

Sakura sighed. "Please?"

"Alright," Gaara said, a little reluctant.

"Good. I have everything set up in the bedroom." Gaara smirked. This idea was sounding not too bad now.

However, when he walked thought the door, he hesitated. Candles were set up everywhere, providing the only light in the room. Soft music was floating across the room from a player on her dresser. His bravery faltered. "Er, Sakura…"

"Yes?" she asked, moving into the room.

"What's all this stuff?"

Sakura shrugged, refusing to be embarrassed. She thought she had gone overboard with all the candles, but truth be told, she had really wanted to do this. Partly so she could say she had a romantic candle-light date on Valentines, and part to see how Gaara handled it. "It's for the mood. It'll help you relax."

"You know, I'm not to sure about this—"

"Get on the bed and take off your shirt. There's going to be lotion involved," Sakura said flatly, not bothering to look at him as she grabbed her basket of stuff.

"That changes things," Gaara said with a chuckle, aware she was not going to let him get out of this. He did as she instructed and laid down on his stomach on a nice towel she had placed over the bed. "So…um…how are you doing this?"

Sakura walked over and plopped her basket on the mattress. "Just relax and let me work." She wished that she an actual massage table so she would be able to stand to the side and do what she needed to, but because the bed was so wide she would have to climb over him. Knowing that Gaara would prefer this anyway, she just hoped he would keep the jokes to a minimum as she rubbed some oil on her hands and on Gaara's skin. He squirmed slightly before he could stop himself and Sakura held back a laugh, smirking. "What, don't like this?" she asked lightly as she rubbed her hands over him.

"No, no. This is good. It's just—slick."

"Would you prefer if I didn't use it?"

"I don't know. Whichever," Gaara said into his arm, closing his eyes as Sakura worked on a tight muscle between his shoulders, scrunching up his face. It sort of stung, but it felt good.

Sakura smiled as she felt Gaara shift and tense under her hands. He was enjoying this, she knew it. "Relax," she told him, smoothing her hands over his back. Gaara grunted in response and stayed quiet.

After a few moments, Sakura had to stop. "Geez, Gaara, you're so tense. All your muscles are stiff. Have you ever heard of relaxation?"

He didn't like her stopping. He shrugged his shoulders and rolled them the best he could from this position, realizing just then how they were painful. "I just ignore it."

Sakura let out an exasperated sigh and returned her hands to him. "You know," she said, working out a rough muscle and making Gaara grunt, "if you weren't in so much discomfort with all that stiffness, maybe you'd be nicer to people."

Gaara huffed and lifted his head up so he could talk better, wishing she would stop talking so he could just lay down and enjoy this. "I'm not nice to people because people are stup—agh—stupid." He groaned as she kneaded muscles in his neck. Giving up on conversation he closed his eyes and let her do what she wanted.

Sakura enjoyed having Gaara (almost literally) putty in her hands. It was moments like these she loved the most. The quiet times they shared, just enjoying being close to each other. Or, at least, Sakura hoped he enjoyed it like she did. She was sure he did to some extent, but she wouldn't be surprised if asked, he would say he would prefer, say, making out with her right now or in bed.

In enough time, Sakura managed to wheedle out the stiffness and crinks in his back, where most of his stress seemed to physically accumulate. Once that was taken care of, she began to smooth her hands over his arms, pressing joints here and there and making Gaara mumble and grumble, even though it felt good after a few moments.

Once Sakura was pleased with her work, she slid to his side and said, "Done. How do you feel?"

Gaara sat up, arching his back. "Great. Thanks."

Sakura smirked, it wasn't often she got praise from him. "So you might want to make this a regular deal?"

Gaara turned to look at her on the bed, rolling his neck. When he felt like he knew his body again, he shrugged. "Maybe. But right now, I have something else in mind."

Sakura saw that glint in his eye and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Did she actually expect to get through an entire Valentines with Gaara without him asking for sex? It wasn't that she was against it, but she had just been curious to see if it would slip his mind (she had highly doubted it, but hey, the experiment was harmless). "Why does this not surprise me?" she asked with a laugh.

Gaara leaned forward. "I'm assuming that's not a no," he said, prowling over.

Sakura laughed again. "That wasn't a yes, either," she tried to argue, but knew it was futile. In another second Gaara had pounced, and she wasn't about to fight.

-----

Later, just as Gaara was falling asleep, Sakura shifted out of his arms, watching his face. After a long moment, she turned away and sighed.

She didn't want to be unhappy with this night. Everything had gone just as she planned. He didn't mind her romancing up her place and making it a little over done. He didn't mind her idea of a massage. She had finally gotten to play out her fantasy of Gaara making love to her in candle light with roses around the room, as silly as she thought it was. But…

That was just it. She'd been hoping that maybe this kind of setting would make Gaara act a little differently than he usually did, let down his guards. Not be the everyday Gaara, but the Gaara he had developed in their relationship. But he hadn't really acted any more romantic than he usually did, which was hardly existent.

Sakura fought another sigh. She didn't want to admit it, but she had been hoping, practically praying, that Gaara would tell her that he loved her tonight.

That's what she had engineered this whole night for. After being together for over half a year, after having sex for the past few months…he still hadn't said he loved her. Sakura didn't want to _make _him say it, but she was desperate to hear those words.

To be fair, Sakura hadn't told him she loved him yet either. In words, anyway. She was positive he knew, just as she was positive he actually did love her…but putting it into words was different. Sakura made a face, now glaring at the candles around the room. Maybe she was hoping for too much. She had a whole plan in her head. Romantic setting. Romantic massage. Making love together. And after that, once Gaara had come down from his high, he would hold her to him and whisper in her ear, or look into her eyes, and say "I love you." And she would smile and hug him back, telling him the same thing.

Except it didn't happen like that. Maybe it never would. Sakura realized she probably _was _hoping for too much. She knew Gaara. It took him a while to really trust people, and with romance he was totally hopeless. She knew it wasn't fair to expect him to act out her fantasy perfectly, especially when she hadn't already completely gotten his trust by telling him that she loved him first. He needed to be sure about things before he acted, and he was no different in relationships.

"Mrmm…" Gaara's grumble broke through her thoughts. "You moved." Sakura blinked and looked down at him. He was rubbing his eyes and yawning, reaching out to her. "Come 'er," he ordered.

She just sat there, watching him. She could see the care in his eyes right now.

She had been in this position multiple times now. There had been moments before, when everything was perfect, the mood was right, and everything felt so intimate, that she had prayed—no, _ached_—for him to say he loved her. And every time, it wouldn't happen. True, at those moments, he certainly let his guard down, was more himself with her than he had been with anyone else, but he never said it.

Maybe he never would. Sakura decided it was stupid of her to continue waiting like this.

He reached out for her, and Sakura leaned in, kissing him. Gaara blinked, and Sakura pulled away. Looking him in the eye, she said firmly, "Gaara, I love you. I have for a long time. And I want to know if you feel the same."

He stared at her stupidly for a moment, sleepy but alarmed at her outburst. He kept his mouth closed to keep an unintelligible 'what?' from coming out as he processed this. Sakura held his gaze, not looking bashful at all, only calculating and determined.

There was a long moment, in which Gaara was uncharacteristically the one at a loss for words and frozen to the spot. Then some of the fire in Sakura's eyes faded, and she blinked several times, brazenness gone, and uncertainty creeped up in her at his silence. So. He wasn't going to say it. He really wasn't ready to…accept her, was he? Or admit to himself that he loved her.

Sakura broke eye contact and pulled away from him, unable to watch him anymore. A sigh was in her throat but she kept it back as she turned her back on him, with a plan to settle back into the sheets. She didn't want to say anything to him, and was angry at herself for giving up so easily, but now wasn't the time to push it. She had been rash in her decision, and this is what she got for it.

She didn't expect the sudden, almost alarming movement from behind her, and her training was about to kick in with a sharp back elbow before she realized it was an embrace. His face was pressed against her shoulder, arms holding on to her so tight and so securely it was almost desperate. Sakura was surprised that she almost started to cry right then, and instead she bit her lip and clung to his arms. She knew what he meant. At least, she prayed she did.

Sakura twisted around and looked at him. "Say it," she willed him quietly. _Please, _she thought. _Say it back. Tell me you love me._

He looked at her for a moment, his expression conflicted, and then he kissed her hard. He held her, hands clutching her arms, and tried to convey what he meant though his actions. The way he kissed her, the way he pulled her to him, how hard he pressed his lips against hers.

When he finally released her, Sakura couldn't look away from him. Gaara was at a loss to see that she was near tears. "Why won't you say it?" she asked brokenly. "I love you, Gaara," she said again, and he felt another jolt. "So much. I know—at least, I think you love me, too." And then the tears started to leak out of her eyes, and she shook her head furiously, ducking down to wipe then away. Gaara watched her, his throat dry.

"Don't cry," he said weakly, putting his arms around her again. "Don't. I hate it when you cry."

Sakura could feel the tenderness in the embrace, hear the care in his voice. This was as soft as Gaara could get—she _knew _he loved her, he had to. She picked her head up to face him again, and her eyes were drawn to the kanji on his forehead.

Was it too much to expect him to be able to vocalize it? He had been through so much, maybe she was pushing it. Maybe she was asking too much. She knew deep down in her heart that he loved her, cared for her more than he had cared for anyone else in his life, but she wanted more. Was that selfish? Shouldn't she just be happy with knowing, rather than making him say it?

Gaara wiping her cheeks made her come back to the moment, and she tried to smile for him. She wrapped her arms around his neck to show that she wasn't upset anymore. Well, she was, but there was no need to get him worked up over it. She didn't want to drag this out. Forcing him to say it—well, that wouldn't happen, and it wouldn't get them anywhere anyway.

Over his shoulder, Sakura saw that there was still one lone candle burning on the nightstand. Untangling from him, Sakura kissed his cheek lightly and said, "Let's get some sleep," and blew out the candle.

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**No matter how I tried, I couldn't make Gaara seem anywhere in the realm of in character. Then again, this is Gaara, so I guess that is to be expected. It was hard putting him in a lovey dovey setting, and keep him more or less in what I considered vaguely like himself, because I wanted this to be sweet and romantic…except he isn't sweet, or romantic. **

**I took so long because I kept getting pissed at the ending and leaving the story alone until I had a fantabulous idea of what would be perfect for this. None came, but I'm not going to bash what the end product was.**


End file.
